The present invention relates to grilling appliances such as used for grilling various types of food articles, e.g., chicken, but also flat-type food articles, e.g., steaks, hamburgers, etc.
The present invention is particularly applicable to grilling appliances of the type which include an impaling member mounted within a grilling compartment for impaling a food article to be grilled, and a circular array of electrical heaters surrounding the impaling member for heating the food article impaled thereon. This type of grilling appliance is illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,575,196, 4,810,856, 4,715,273, 1,819,301 and 1,612,252, and in Austrian Patent 217,592, wherein the impaling member is either stationary or is rotated within the grilling compartment with respect to the electrical heaters to evenly grill the outer surface of the food article; and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,994, wherein the electrical heaters are sequentially energized to produce a rotating heating front which rotates around the food article to evenly grill its outer surface.